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Mr. Speaker, it will be a year tomorrow that government announced a one-year freeze on auto insurance rates. I rise today to update the House on what happens now that the freeze is about to expire. On March 17, 2004, we announced a comprehensive plan for reforming auto insurance in this province. Our first step was to freeze auto insurance rates and to legislate a starting package of reforms based on savings that were confirmed by an independent actuary. Mr. Speaker, the rate freeze was put in place to protect consumers from rising premiums until we could legislate our reforms and go through a public review process to determine the future direction of insurance in this province. On Aug. 1, consumers received an average overall reduction of 15 per cent on their premiums when Bill 30 was proclaimed into law. These reforms resulted in consumers being treated more fairly by insurance companies through the introduction of new underwriting guidelines. As a result, Mr. Speaker, a company can no longer set rates or refuse coverage based on accidents that are not the individual�s fault, minor damage when no claim is paid, and lapse in coverage, just to highlight a few of the benefits. Since the passage of Bill 30, the Public Utilities Board has held public sessions around the province. We also appointed a consumer advocate to represent consumers during the review process. Mr. Speaker, the Public Utilities Board has now wrapped up the auto insurance portion of its review process and we expect a report at the end of the month. The department also committed to reviewing, and consulting on, the process by which rates are set. I want to inform the House today that this review is now complete and we are prepared to move forward with a new rate setting process to ensure that every rate increase is justified. Mr. Speaker, we will be bringing forward legislation this session to allow for a rate setting process that requires insurance companies to file individually and justify any rate increases. This process will replace the current system of setting maximum and minimum benchmarks, which was unique in Canada. Mr. Speaker, we believe consumers are better served by requiring individual companies to produce numbers that support why they are seeking a rate increase. As well, the elimination of the minimum benchmark will also increase competition by permitting companies to charge rates below the minimum benchmark. Mr. Speaker, we will update the House on any additional legislation that we may bring forward in relation to auto insurance once we receive and review the report from the Public Utilities Board. Thank you. |
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